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September 6, 2006
Federer Waiting for Sun and Spotlight to Shine
By Christopher Clarey, New York Times
It has been a hit-or-miss year for ticket-holders and tennis players at this rain-soaked, tear-soaked Andre Agassi jubilee disguised as a United States Open.
But for Roger Federer,
the first nine days of this Grand Slam tournament have been a smoother,
more emotionally balanced ride, and he has picked his spots and shots
cleverly between the showers. Federer likes to control his
schedule as much as possible in major tournaments, and though he was
offered the chance by Open organizers to play his opening match last
Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, he preferred to play at the
less electrically charged time slot of 11 a.m. in the hope of avoiding
the rain. It worked, and on Sunday night, he chose a sure start
at 7:30 p.m. on the Armstrong court over playing the third match, with
an indefinite start time, at Ashe. To sum up, Federer, the
world’s No. 1 player and the two-time defending United States Open
champion, has had no quibble thus far with laying low, ceding the
spotlight to Agassi’s farewell during the first week. Through three
rounds, he has yet to lose a set, and it would be something of an
earthquake if he dropped one against Marc Gicquel, a late-blooming
Frenchman making his United States Open debut at age 29, when they
eventually play the fourth-round match that was postponed last night.
The bigger challenges for Federer surely lie ahead, and one of those
challenges is finding a way to maintain a healthy appetite for great
success when you have already had plenty. He is not the only
21st-century sportsman in that position, and in an interview before the
Open, Federer said that one of those from whom he drew inspiration was Tiger Woods. “Absolutely,”
he said. “I do, and for me, it’s similar to what Tiger is saying. I’m
not 100 percent sure of the quote, but the idea is that you want to
prove to yourself that you can do it and not to other people.
“That’s why for me, this rivalry with Rafael Nadal, O.K., it’s
interesting maybe, but in the end, I care about winning the tournaments. “That
for me is the bottom line, and if Rafael Nadal happens to be on the
other side, even better. Because then I can beat the main rival or make
a great story on top of that. But I think that what people like Tiger
and I are more interested in is not who we’re playing or racing
against. It’s wanting to get the best out of yourself.” Woods
and Federer have yet to meet, although they are represented by the same
management company, IMG. But both regularly watch and admire the
other’s work on television, and at this year’s British Open, Woods said
that he was now “a huge Federer fan” after being “a huge Pete Sampras fan” before that.
Clearly, dominance appeals to the dominant. Though Nadal has given
Federer more trouble of late than Woods’s rivals have given him and
though golf and tennis do not compare as well as they contrast — a
golfer can win well into his 40’s; Sampras played until age 31 —
Federer and Woods are each in their prime. Both won two major titles
this year, with Federer, 25, still in contention for a third. And both
are six Grand Slam titles away from hitting historical targets. Federer has 8 Grand Slam singles titles to Sampras’s record 14. Woods has 12 majors to Jack Nicklaus’s record 18. “I’ve
met both Tiger and Roger, and they’re both very impressive,” said Ivan
Lendl, the tennis great who is well placed to compare because he has
become an avid golfer. “I would say it’s almost a below-the-belt
question to ask which is more impressive. I think what you find in both
of them is that they are both trying to keep focused and keep getting
better. “Top players in any sport who have any kind of staying
power are guys who draw energy from success and use it to improve. I
believe that’s the difference between a champion and a No. 1 who comes
and goes.” Federer doesn’t look only at Woods, who is on one of
the biggest rolls of his career at age 30 after winning five
consecutive tournaments. As a European, Federer also looks at others
who have dominated over an extended period, in particular the German
Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and the Italian motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi.
“I love seeing those athletes; you always wonder how do they keep it
up,” Federer said. “And now I’m in the same position, and I’m thinking,
‘Why are you asking me this question about why do I want to keep it up?’ “This
is what we all love doing, and you want to prove to yourself you can do
it over and over again. You can just never get enough of it until you
hit the wall and know you’re done. “I love this sport, and I do
have some regrets. In my junior years, I thought I didn’t practice well
enough. I could have done so many things better, and even though I
learned very quickly, I was a bit lazy. And I look back and I’ve always
had the feeling I could maybe have had success earlier than winning
Wimbledon for the first time. “Now, when finally everything is
working out, and I’m happy with my private life and am playing well on
the court, I want to make sure I do things right, so I can look back
and say that at least from the time I came on tour, I really kind of
made everything right. That’s the feeling I want to have when I leave.”
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